Handicapper general.

Just sayin'.

(what book was that? I forget)

[QUOTE=axn;223081]To see the absurdity of that argument, take it to its logical extreme -- a switched off computer will be the ideal, since it consumes 0 units of coal/day.

Per-day consumption is an absurd measure of efficiency for distributed computing.
[/QUOTE]
Bottom line is, the argument of "people burning coal to keep their old PIIs and PIIIs running on projects" isn't valid. While PIII's are not as fast as newer computers, they aren't power hogs either.

[quote]Handicapper general.

Just sayin'.

(what book was that? I forget)[/quote]
Google is your friend:

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron[/url]

:direction:
Perhaps the recent posts, including this one, can be moved to another thread... :smile:
My take on the whole issue ... you can continuing driving in nails with a rock if you like, but don't complain when others buy a hammer.

[QUOTE=Oddball;223092]Bottom line is, the argument of "people burning coal to keep their old PIIs and PIIIs running on projects" isn't valid. While PIII's are not as fast as newer computers, they aren't power hogs either.[/QUOTE]

You seem to have some kind of absolute definition of what a power hog is. I don't. I see it in relative terms.

And don't be taken in by the 26W figure. A CPU isn't going to run on its own. We have to look at the total system power consumption. Does that change your conclusion?

[QUOTE=frmky;223093]Perhaps the recent posts, including this one, can be moved to another thread... :smile:[/quote]
Agreed :redface:
[QUOTE=frmky;223093]My take on the whole issue ... you can continuing driving in nails with a rock if you like, but don't complain when others buy a hammer.[/QUOTE]

More like, "don't complain when others point out that a hammer will be more suitable". :smile:

[QUOTE=rogue;223046]
Another unintended consequence of people switching work over to GPUs is that it could ultimately hurt Intel's dominance.[/QUOTE]
Hurt Intel's dominance? They're in the GPU market too:

[url]http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=244879[/url]

"Intel might be the first company to ever launch two GPUs on the same die. Not only does it look like Intel might be the first with monolithically integrated with the CPU and have Fusion before AMD, bit it might be the first “graphics” company to ever launch two GPUs on the same die."

[QUOTE=axn;223094]
And don't be taken in by the 26W figure. A CPU isn't going to run on its own. We have to look at the total system power consumption. Does that change your conclusion?[/QUOTE]
My old system had a Pentium III at 800 MHz, and the whole system drew around 50-60 watts of power at full load. Compare that with this:

[url]http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=213089&postcount=152[/url]

"487W for GTX 295 under full load!

Frmky power reading is probably correct. I'm thinking about what this is going to do to my electric bill if I run this 24/7!"

[QUOTE=Oddball;223097]Hurt Intel's dominance? They're in the GPU market too:

[url]http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=244879[/url]

"Intel might be the first company to ever launch two GPUs on the same die. Not only does it look like Intel might be the first with monolithically integrated with the CPU and have Fusion before AMD, bit it might be the first “graphics” company to ever launch two GPUs on the same die."[/QUOTE]

I was referring to nvidia and CUDA specifically. I'm unaware of anyone on this forum (or at PrimeGrid) targeting Intel GPUs, unless I've completely missed it.

[QUOTE=frmky;223093]
My take on the whole issue ... you can continuing driving in nails with a rock if you like, but don't complain when others buy a hammer.[/QUOTE]
Wrong analogy. It's like Walmart forcing the smaller Mom-and-pop stores out of business.

[QUOTE=Oddball;223100]My old system had a Pentium III at 800 MHz, and the whole system drew around 50-60 watts of power at full load. Compare that with this:

[url]http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=213089&postcount=152[/url]

"487W for GTX 295 under full load!

Frmky power reading is probably correct. I'm thinking about what this is going to do to my electric bill if I run this 24/7!"[/QUOTE]What is the FLOP/W of each?

[quote=Oddball;223097]Hurt Intel's dominance? They're in the GPU market too:

[URL]http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=244879[/URL]

"Intel might be the first company to ever launch two GPUs on the same die. Not only does it look like Intel might be the first with monolithically integrated with the CPU and have Fusion before AMD, bit it might be the first “graphics” company to ever launch two GPUs on the same die."[/quote]
What a joke! ARM has been doing that for some time with Mali-400 MP, and this has been implemented in ST-Ericsson U8500 chip. This single chip consumes *much* less than your P3 :smile: Now would you use such a chip for number crunching?

As axn, I tend to think work accomplished matters more than power consumption: a Core i7 is about 10 times faster than a P3 and only consumes 4 times more (according to TDP). Even for an open-ended project, I would favour the i7.